OUR speaker, Tim Fisher, was delayed by traffic problems on the motorway but the meeting proceeded with announcements on forthcoming exhibitions and on our plan to complement our video library with a library of books on art topics.

Our chair, Barbara Winfield, requested that members donate any books they no longer need and started the collection off by donating a book on oil painting.

After his brief hold-up, Tim arrived and rapidly set up the equipment for his talk and demonstration of ink linework and pastel painting. He described the materials and equipment he uses to produce his paintings. The pastels are soft and artists' quality, which can produce some loose dust on and around the painting surface. Tim explained his methods for keeping his working area and his pastels clean.

The painting surface for pastels has to be textured and Tim has developed a pastel paper which comprises a 300 gsm acid-free paper with a fine, sanded painting surface.

The abrasive nature of the painting surface rules out many of the implements used for line work so the chosen implement was a simple pointed stick which was dipped into black acrylic ink and used to develop the line drawing.

The chosen subject for the demonstration was a farm scene set in an autumn landscape and Tim had brought a reference photograph to use when composing his drawing. He stressed that such photographs should not be copied slavishly but simply used as a guide. He particularly avoided tidying up - striving instead to preserve the random nature of the scene.

Having completed the drawing, Tim started blocking in his colours, starting with the sky.

He worked around the buildings and, using his fingertips, did some rubbing in and blending of the sky colours. Where fine lines or edges were required, the pastel was applied with a rolling action.

As the painting developed, Tim gave a commentary on each stage, explaining that he avoided large areas of uniform colour by introducing differing colours and tones and using his colours to unify the picture. As he put in his finishing touches of highlights, shadows and some details, he cautioned against overworking the painting and producing a fussy picture.

When he judged the painting to be complete, he placed it in a mount frame for display; this isolates the painting from its surroundings and allows a proper assessment of it as a picture. The result was an impressive work which prompted appreciative applause from the audience.

Redditch Art Circle is supported by Redditch Borough Council through Redditch Arts Council. The next meeting will be at St Luke's Memorial Hall, Evesham Road, Headless Cross on Wednesday, November 2 at 7.30pm when Keith Fenwick will demonstrate landscape in oils.